How a good night’s rest can improve an athlete’s resuls

By Charles H. Samuels, MD

Coaches, trainers, athletes and sport scientists have traditionally focused on training and improvements to training methods to maximize the strength, speed, endurance and agility of elite athletes. But in recent years, recovery has been recognized as a key factor in the training process, holding potential to maximize performance. The Canadian Olympic Committee and Own the Podium have adopted and fully supported this philosophy, funding a research project at the Centre for Sleep and Human Performance in Calgary. The goal of the research is to determine how often elite athletes have their sleep disturbed and how that impacts their training, recovery and performance. The ultimate aim is to help athletes manage the rigours of jet lag and travel fatigue.

Swapping sleep for gym time comes with a cost. To date, our research with 272 elite athletes indicates that 18 per cent of adult athletes and 87 per cent of adolescent athletes are getting an insufficient amount of sleep each night. It is important to understand that this goes beyond not getting enough sleep: often that rest is disturbed, resulting in poor quality sleep. Further study by our group examined 191 athletes and found that 19 per cent of them showed a prevalence of poor sleep quality. Keep in mind that the No. 1 concern is that all levels of athletes are exposed to chronic sleep debt, especially those who are waking up early to get to the gym or to train before the rest of their busy day.

Does compromising sleep and recovery for training pay off? Cheri Mah and colleagues at Stanford University have studied this question. They found that giving collegiate athletes an opportunity to sleep 10 hours a night for two weeks substantially improved their performance on objective tests of precision and accuracy, such as shooting baskets in basketball and successful serves in tennis.

Boost results with proper rest
Sleep is a physiological state during which cognitive processing and memory recover, regenerate and consolidate.

These are obviously critical factors that  are fundamental to athletic performance. Equally important is acknowledgement that sleep is the state where critical metabolic functions occur that regulate energy metabolism and tissue recovery.

The goal of any training regimen is to determine how to challenge the athlete’s body to break down tissues that will be rebuilt stronger without overtraining the athlete. This is why recovery plays such a vital role in training; it provides the athlete with the appropriate balance of work, rest and sleep to maximize workouts.

Training routines have become more sophisticated and should take into account peak volumes, intensities and durations followed by an easing of workouts leading up to competition. But these strategies can fail if recovery time is not imbedded into the training schedule.

Charles H. Samuels, MD, CCFP, DABSM is medical director of the Centre for Sleep and Human Performance and an clinical assistant professor at the University of Calgary.

Sleep and Training: What can you do?

Sleep Rules for Athletes

Figure out how much sleep you need each night, multiply the hours per night by seven nights a week and get as close to that total per week as possible.

Learn to nap. Also, sleep in on weekends to help the body replenish itself if your total sleep numbers are below that optimal target.

Never train hard on a sleep-deprived body. If you are down on your sleep, modify the intensity, duration and volume of training until you are back to baseline.

Sleep environment is critical to the quality of your sleep. Use a comfy and supportive mattress, and ensure your bedroom is dark, quiet, and set at a comfortable temperature for sleep.
If you think you have disturbed sleep or difficulty sleeping, get help. See your doctor or go to a sleep clinic for an evaluation and treatment.

Do not use sleep medication, including over the counter sleep aids, without medical advice. These drugs may be masking a real sleep problem that can be treated without medication.

January/February 2011 Issue